Java: "error: cannot find symbol"

Question

(Rookie mistake, I'm sure.)

I'm a first year computer science student, and attempting to write a program for an assignment, with the code;

import java.util.Scanner;
public class Lab10Ex1 {

   public static void main(String[] arg) {

    Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
    System.out.println("Please type a number: ");
    int n = keyboard.nextInt(); 
    calcNumFactors();
  }
  public static void calcNumFactors(){

   System.out.print(n + 1);

  }

}

But upon compiling, I get the error;

Lab10Ex1.java:10: error: cannot find symbol System.out.print(n + 1); ^

symbol: variable n

location: class Lab10Ex1

If someone could explain to me what I've done wrong, or how to fix it, I would greatly appreciate it.

Just as a tip; keep your code formatting consistent and readable. It'll save a lot of headaches in future assignments and future classes. — Dennis Meng
– Dennis Meng, Commented Nov 22, 2013 at 5:25
Ah. As I said, I'm new to the site, and new to Java. My apologies. It's probably not helping that it's 1:30 in the morning. — Skelatox
– Skelatox, Commented Nov 22, 2013 at 5:28
Yeah, coding into the night is never fun (I did it constantly in college). The formatting bit is almost all for your benefit; it's an absolutely critical skill since you will have to work in a team eventually (and the other people have to be able to read your code). From a Stack Overflow perspective, it'll also help you get help much faster (we can't help you if we can't read the code :P) — Dennis Meng
– Dennis Meng, Commented Nov 22, 2013 at 5:32
Fair enough. On a side note, program done, and, as a bonus, functional. Woo! Good night Internet! — Skelatox
– Skelatox, Commented Nov 22, 2013 at 6:23

APerson · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-03 22:29:43Z

8

The n variable was declared in the main method and thus is visible only in the main method, nowhere else, and certainly not inside of the calcNumFactors method. To solve this, give your calcNumFactors method an int parameter which would allow calling methods to pass an int, such as n into the method.

public static void calcNumFactors(int number) {
   // work with number in here
}

and call it like so:

int n = keyboard.nextInt(); 
calcNumFactors(n);

edited Jan 3, 2016 at 22:29

APerson

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answered Nov 22, 2013 at 5:23

Hovercraft Full Of Eels

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1 Comment

Skelatox Over a year ago

Ah, that fixed it. Much obliged.

Linga · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-22 05:30:24Z

1

You must declare the variable n in public static void calcNumFactors()

In your code, you have to pass the value of n as an argument to the function calcNumFactors() as Hovercraft Full Of Eels said.

edited Nov 22, 2013 at 5:30

answered Nov 22, 2013 at 5:24

Linga

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Comments

ricky · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-29 10:12:58Z

0

import java.util.Scanner;
public class Lab10Ex1 {

   private static int n;

   public static void main(String[] arg) {
    Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
    System.out.println("Please type a number: ");
     n = keyboard.nextInt(); 
    calcNumFactors();
  }
  public static void calcNumFactors(){

   System.out.print(n + 1);

  }
}

edited May 29, 2014 at 10:12

answered May 29, 2014 at 10:06

ricky

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Comments

Jerry U · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-11 16:39:25Z

0

In my case, I copied an Enum file from a Grails (.groovy) project and forgot to change the extension to .java

answered May 11, 2021 at 16:39

Jerry U

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